broken bravo1
 

my drive got broken about a month ago.still fighting with the insurance company.my question is if my prop shaft was almost rung-off,and the vertigal drive shaft rung compleatly off,and the engine coupler had metal splinters in it,would it be a safe asumption to say the drive is junk?my guy that is handling the insurance claim says so,the insurance says it should be fixed,and not replaced.what do you folks think?i ran over a subbmeresed tug-boat rope.thanks .

let them give a quote to fix it. The quote will prob be higher than buying a new one from someone like Bam.Get the ck and order a new one.


Alot of insurance companies that do the high performance boats like Fountain want pay for hitting surmerged objects .because so many people making false claims for too much horsepower on the or jumping out of the water etc.

I'm an insurance appraiser. Typically what the insurance company will want is the drive disassembled to verify damage. The shop will typically give two estimates. Repair the existing drive and replace the existing drive. Like strip said with the amount of labor involved most times it is cheaper to replace the complete drive. Good Luck

they will not replace the whole drive ,just the lower.the claims adjuster ammitted that probley there was hidden damage,but will only pay for what is broken and they can see it.he says progressive has changed there polcey on replacing the whole drive.it just does not make good $$$ sence to me,i mean they know it is going to break agine,and it will cost them more $$$$$......go figure.thanks for your input nashpda.brad.

Progressive is the worst .I have friend in the body shop biz and they hate them.

The adjuster is doing his job ,Adjusting the amount of money they have to pay out:mad:


When it breaks again it will be a new claim and they will say something else caused it.

If the case is good ,get the shop to make sure the replace all that is broken and or could be a prob later on.its up to the shop to tell the insurance what needs to be replaced.

Get the shop to tell the insurance co they need to send the gears off to get xrayed $$$$$ to make sure there is no hidden fractures in them.:eek: :D

Here's where you are somewhat put in a pickle. Again most insurance companies will only want to repair the seen damage on the lower unit. They won't pay for suspected/possible damage to the upper. There are several scenarios
1) You get the lower fixed and run it, find damage to the upper, hope it doesn't cause damage to the lower, call the insurance company back, have the shop repair the upper, the insurance company has spent more money than replacing the drive and you've been without your boat for 1/2 the season
2) You have the shop tear down the upper, nothing is found, the insurance company doesn't want to pay the extra labor because nothing was found and you're out the money
3) (My recommendation for what it is worth) See what kind of brother-in-law price the shop can give you on a new drive. Negotiate with the insurance company. Explain the discou nted price versus list and see if they will offer some sort of concession toward the difference. They may be willing just from a goodwill stand point and to keep egg off their face in the event damage is found to the upper.

Good Luck

thanks guys for all the input.the shop is going to bat for me but progressive is not swayig from there story.at this point,i feel i am getting the ole inoutinout deal.i will probley have to go with somone else for insurance.sending the gears off is a idea,just trying to get the fountain back out on the water.true i got another boat and a pwc.....yea gas is 3.00 a gal,pwc's sip,but its the point.pokerun coming up,gota have the fountain going.just finished snaping pic's of a chewed up engine coupler.....think the man will be change his mind?

How much are they offering $$ ? ya can get a new one for 4 something.I was kidding about the Xray.not cost efective.

Maybe, If he knows what an engine coupler is:evilb:

Several yrs ago I hit a reef and tore up my lower unit. The estimate to repair the lower only was more than what a complete brand new drive from Bam was. A no brainer disicion. My Ins. Co. even paid me to install the new drive at a lower hourly rate than a dealer would have recieved if they would have done it. Anything to save them a buck, they were all for it. I actuallly made a couple $100 from that incident.

Keep in mind that all that stress that damaged your lower unit and even the coupler, was also applied to the upper 1/2. It just didn't break..... yet.

Be best if you can work out replacing the whole drive and having all new pieces parts with a warranty, even if it cost you a few bucks.

bargining tool
 

hey strip poker i was serious.i am going to tell them i want it done and they will have to get off some of that $$$$,lololol.

i know the upper was stressed and so does the insurance man.i think all they are seeing clearly is green.it would be nice if they paid me for removing the lower,but thats not going to pan out either.......ding ding...round 4 comming up!

Well tell them that the shaft needs to be xrayed/magnufluxed the inpack might of fractured them also and might fail later when your out in the Ocean and might put you family in danger.that the upper gears might blow apart and exploded inside the case tearing up the ujoint assy blowing it all apart making the boat sink:eek: :D they would in theroy be liable. But there acting in Bad Faith:(

insurance woes
 

i just talked to the comissioner of insurance in Va.going to file a complant w/them.my uncle is a insurance investegator and said write or file a complaint.that would get there attention.....what do you think?i like the idea about at sea and my family at risk....good thinking strip poker.i will try that too.....hell at this point i will try anything.thanks all.ding ding.....round 5 coming up,stay tuned.brad

Its going to take longer.I have gone thru the state comissoine's offer before even knew the Lawyer for the comiss it still took months, but it wad a larger claim and it worked .

How much money are we talking about??? if its just 1-2k diff I would rather pay and be on the water. But if its the principle about it ,ive been there .:D

Strip's right these things can drag out. If you can or will pay the difference you can still file the complaint. You may also have an arbitration clause in your policy. This allows a third party, agreed on by you and the insurance company, to inspect and render a decision.

the whole job,r/r drive/r/r coupler,tear down,all labor is about 7800.00.they only want to pay 3400.00 for the lower,and tear down labor...not my labor.no $$ for the coupler,or labor.if they see damage they will pay for the coupler+labor,no damage,i pay.the coupler part is about 1400.00.i should just take money out of the bank ,and do it myself....but what *** have i got insurance.i guess i will be riding the pachanga and the waverunner this summer while i make payments on the fountain.....this sucks.

So true.....

Years ago I did an insurance job on a 45 Sonic that ran over a 55 gallon drum. The lower unit sheared off and destroyed the upper and the entire drive needed to be replaced, it also broke the drive bell housing. When I wrote the estimate I suggested mandantory replacement of the engine coupler along with everything else.....:rolleyes: Insurance adjuster wanted us to just replace all the broken parts minus the coupler....

I put it all together ($10K bill) and went out for a test ride with the owner... The 20 minute test ride everything went fine... The following monday I was pulling the engine because the engine coupler was wiped out..... We charged the Insurance company a higher rate to R&R the engine to install the coupler than if it was included in the whole job..... :D

Meanwhile the owner couldn't use the boat that weekend cause it was broken..... Sounds like stupidity to me....:drink:

the insurance companys use the labor books that mercury provides them....

got my insurance money the other day.3900.00 for a reman-lower,and labor.nothing for the upper,or engine coupler.i paid for the coupler myself.what do you guys think?